The Boeing 747 turns 50, the “Queen of the Skies”

On September 30, 1968 Boeing displayed to the public for the first time the first prototype of the Boeing 747-100 when it was rolled out of the new Paine Field facility at Everett, WA (above). Photo: Boeing.

The first flight was successfully conducted on February 9, 1969.

On January 15, 1970, Pat Nixon, the First Lady of the United States, christened Pan Am’s first Boeing 747-100.

The first Pan Am Boeing 747-100 entered revenue service on January 22, 1970, on the New York (JFK) – London (Heathrow) route. The flight had been scheduled for the previous evening on January 21, but engine overheating cancelled the originally scheduled inaugural flight.